08 July,2009 09:20 AM IST | | Subroto Roy
Gang had planned to sell minor girls to Gauri Kancha Tamang, a brothel owner in Budhwar Peth
One minor girl from Bangladesh is forced into the city's prostitution racket every alternate day, according to Freedom Firm (FF), an NGO that operates in Maharasthra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
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Each of these girls is smuggled into India through the extremely porous Indo-Bangla border for which border authorities are paid around Rs 2.5 lakh per border crossing.
Working on a tip off, the Pune Crime Branch rescued three young Bangladeshi girls aged between 15 and 17 from a gang of four human traffickers at 6.50 am yesterday. "On Sunday evening, we got a tip off from an NGO that works against child prostitution in Jessore, Kolkata," said Shyam Kamble, FF coordinator of FF.
The arrest
Yesterday morning, the cops laid a trap at Daund and Pune railway stations and arrested a gang on the Azad Hind Express coming in from Howrah.
The arrested include Dildar Mahammad Yunus Hussain (32), Sabina Mohammed Aalam (25), Shahnarabegum Iman Gazi (23) and Gauri Kancha Tamang (37) a brothel owner in Budhwar Peth. Another Mohammad Alam (30) from Bangladesh is absconding.u00a0 Idris, who is known to be a part of the racket, is also absconding.
Anil Kumbhare, DCP (Crime), said, "In the last one month, the Crime Branch has arrested 10 illegal immigrants in the city. The police succeeded in the operation after they were alerted by the crime branch on Sunday.
All the arrested had fake identity papers, including PAN cards, voter cards, and ration cards, according to the police.
"We are exploring the possibility of charging them under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA ) as the gang is a part of an organised criminal activity with its roots in our neighbouring countries," added Kumbhare.
Last month's arrest
A Myanmar national Joharalam Mohammad alias Jaffer and two Bangladeshi nationals, were arrested with fake identity documents on them.
Kambale also named an Alam Gir, a trafficker based in Kolkata who runs a major part of the racket involving border authorites. According to Kambale PSI Vimal Bidwe at the Faraskhana police station has filed 90 cases of forced prostitution of minors in the last one year, while FF has conducted 20 raids and has been working for 13 years in the field.
